


Holding On

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Home and Away [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural
Genre: AU, Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7027777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Any, Any, passing love notes when a relationship is still secret."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding On

The first book arrived precisely six weeks after the last time Jonathan saw Evan (the only time he saw Evan).

Dean was a loyal friend, said nothing, but a couple of times he cornered Jonathan at the garage, tried to ask him if he was all right, if any older dudes had tried to take advantage of him. Jonathan deflected by asking Dean how his educational plans were coming along.

And then the book came in the mail. Since Jonathan hadn’t ordered anything, he wasn’t expecting anything, but it was addressed to him, so he took it inside his apartment, sat at the kitchen counter, and opened it.  
  
It was a battered copy of _The Magician’s Nephew_. There was a note just inside the cover in unfamiliar print.  
  
_Chronologically, it comes first. But it was written last. Either way you read it, it’s the start of the story._  
  
Jonathan didn’t sleep that night for reading it, dragged himself into the garage the next morning looking wrung out, prompting the other mechanics to ask him if he’d had a _good night_. Dean looked concerned, but Jonathan waved him off. Nothing scandalous here, just staying up reading. Jonathan was, the other mechanics said, a bit of a nerd, but he could work wonders with plane engines, and that brought business and money, so their ribbing was all good-natured.  
  
After reading the book, Jonathan looked at his newest painting with fresh perspective. Pools that led to other worlds, through magic gained from Atlantis, handed down by Morgan Le Fay. He remembered what Evan had said, off-hand, after Dean left. _I mean, out in Atlantis, everyone’s a little weird, and we’re all trapped there perpetually, annual leave notwithstanding._  
  
The Lost City of the Ancients. Had Daniel finally found it?  
  
Jonathan hung the painting of the Stargate fountain on the wall at the foot of his bed and gazed at it every night until he fell asleep.  
  
The second book arrived six weeks after the first, a battered, used copy of _Timaeus and Critias_ by Plato. Jonathan had never been much one for philosophy, but as soon as he saw the inscription inside the cover, he buckled down to read it.  
  
_“They possessed true and in every way great spirits, uniting gentleness with wisdom in the various chances of life.”_ Despite having never seen it before, Jonathan knew this was Evan’s handwriting. Beneath the quotation was another note: _Taking a chance._  
  
Every six weeks a new book came, about Atlantis or Morgan le Fay or Merlin or traveling to different worlds through pools (Lev Grossman’s _The Magicians_ was really good, and Jonathan was startled when he realized he was talking to Samuel about books, recommending them to him - and Samuel was recommending books right back, like _The Mists of Avalon_ ).  
  
Jonathan never lost sight of his goal, to keep on working, saving money, be ready to have the adult life he wanted as soon as he turned eighteen. And he never lost sight of his other goal, to help Dean get into the Air Force Academy.  
  
When he turned seventeen, yet another package arrived in the mail, with an anonymous pre-printed address label, but Jonathan recognized the wrapping paper and the font on the label. It wasn’t quite the right shape or size for a book, though. It was a box. A wooden box, lined with red velvet. Nestled inside the velvet was a pair of rings, one made of delicate green stone, the other made of translucent yellow stone. Inscribed the green ring were the words _take me away_ and inside the yellow ring  _take me home_. The green one was sized to fit Jonathan. The yellow one, he was sure, was sized to fit Evan.  
  
Six weeks after the rings arrived, Jonathan received another book. Not a novel about Atlantis or Merlin or magic, though. A sketchbook. Full of drawings of Elizabeth Weir. Of Rodney McKay. Of other scientists and soldiers who Jonathan had believed were fictional characters but he now knew were real members of the SGC, carrying on the good fight. Of what was the source of the spiked castle but Jonathan realized was probably the Ancient city of Atlantis. Now that Jonathan knew what to look for, he could see Ancient design in the castle and artefacts in Evan’s regular artwork. Written at the back of the sketchbook in familiar handwriting were the words,  _Holding on._  
  
“I’m holding on too,” Jonathan said. He smiled and kept the sketchbook on his nightstand, and he kept on working and saving and waiting till he turned eighteen.


End file.
